With the first pick of the second round (50th overall), the Washington Nationals select … Cal second baseman Jeff Kobernus.

Turns out the scouts weren’t lying to Bears coach David Esquer when they told him Kobernus wouldn’t last past the third round. Kobernus is a tall, lanky middle infielder with good range who helped his own cause by spending the last month or so of the 2009 season in an unconscious state every time he picked up a bat.

And as we speak, Bears right fielder/first baseman/designated hitter/pitcher Blake Smith is drafted with the 56th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Smith and Jackson were the ones who got all the hype going into 2009, Smith mostly because of his performance last summer with the Team USA Collegiate National Team.

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After months of waiting and wondering where he would go in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, former Cal baseball center fielder Brett Jackson will simply be trading the block “C” on his cap for one of a slightly different shape.

Jackson, who was projected by most mock drafts to go in the mid- to late-first round, was drafted No. 31 overall by the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday evening, becoming the fourth-highest pick in Cal program history and the third first-rounder that coach David Esquer has produced at the Bears’ helm. The Orinda, Calif., native was the 10th outfielder drafted and gave Cal a first-round pick for the second straight year. The Toronto Blue Jays drafted David Cooper 17th overall in 2008.

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